Fri, May 15 2020, 9:29 AM
I messed up yesterday, not knowing “Bike to Work” Day was postponed until September. Getting out of the bedroom was okay on my Schwinn Varsity, but co...
Fri, May 15 2020, 9:17 AM
As recently as April 21st, the fate of the mortgage market was still highly uncertain and that uncertainty was readily apparent in the ridiculously w...
Fri, May 15 2020, 9:10 AM
In its May 5 report on the number of COVID-19 forbearance plans in effect, Black Knight said the rate of new plans had slowed , but speculated they co...
Thu, May 14 2020, 3:49 PM
Mortgage rates move lower again today. Combined with yesterday's drop, the improvement has been significant for top tier rate quotes in the lower rang...
Thu, May 14 2020, 11:10 AM
The national delinquency rate rose significantly in the first quarter of 2020, driven largely by a surge in the early stage rates. The Mortgage Banker...
Thu, May 14 2020, 10:12 AM
As we race toward the Memorial Day holiday on the 25th, for the first time in history we can save the human race by laying in front of the TV and doin...
Thu, May 14 2020, 8:58 AM
The recent trading range has been reinforced after a strong show of support in this week's Treasury auctions. Treasuries were under more pressure hea...
Thu, May 14 2020, 8:18 AM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and both GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have announced a new option for homeowners in COVID-19 forbearanc...
Wed, May 13 2020, 4:02 PM
Mortgage rates improved today, on average, but things can vary quite a bit depending on the lender. Several lenders are back in line with their lowest...
Wed, May 13 2020, 9:09 AM
Remember the old days at a birthday party when someone would blow on the cake before everyone ate it? Things are certainly changing, including process...
Wed, May 13 2020, 9:00 AM
In ancient financial market times (let's say any time before 2009), a massive economic shock resulted in a pervasive move lower in both stock prices a...
Wed, May 13 2020, 8:23 AM
Last week was yet another good one for purchase mortgage activity and refinancing, while continuing to fade, was still at double its pace of a year ag...
Tue, May 12 2020, 12:23 PM
Home prices really ramped up in the first quarter of 2020 as inventory failed to make significant gains. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) s...
Tue, May 12 2020, 9:51 AM
I have a confession to make. I grew up drinking whole milk. In fact, I’m so old, when we were thirsty playing sports on the street, we drank out of wh...
Tue, May 12 2020, 9:04 AM
CoreLogic's Loan Performance Insights Report has shown only incremental changes, primarily declines, in most of its measures of delinquency. The most ...
Tue, May 12 2020, 8:40 AM
2.5 UMBS coupons last traded at 103.5 (103-16) yesterday. This morning, they are down to 103.31 (103-11), which is roughly a 20bp drop. But the char...
Mon, May 11 2020, 7:12 PM
Mortgage rates began the day slightly lower compared to last Friday, but that didn't last long . Underlying bond markets were under pressure from the ...
Mon, May 11 2020, 10:07 AM
The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are increasingly clear, and so are the results of some efforts to alleviate financial hardships. Gi...
Mon, May 11 2020, 9:09 AM
In the last two months everyone figured out the difference between “WFH” and “WTF,” and many in captivity are looking forward to being released , if o...
Mon, May 11 2020, 8:51 AM
Bonds lost ground last week, overall, with 10yr yields rising the better part of 10bps. MBS lost ground as well, but not UMBS 2.0 coupons. These are...
Fri, May 8 2020, 6:59 PM
Mortgage rates ended the week on a low note (in a good way), falling in line with their best recent levels. This put some lenders in line with April 3...
Fri, May 8 2020, 11:21 AM
Black Knight reports that, as of May 7, there were 4.1 million loans in forbearance, up from 3.8 million in the company's last report which covered pl...
Fri, May 8 2020, 8:59 AM
Huh? Your company has 20,000 square feet of office space along 635 in Dallas, or 15 in Salt Lake City, or 405 in Orange County, that’s been empty for ...
Fri, May 8 2020, 8:32 AM
The Employment Situation (the big jobs report out today) is the single most important piece of economic data on any given month--at least it normally ...
Thu, May 7 2020, 5:05 PM
Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) plummeted 17.8 points in April. Combined with its 11.7-point loss in March the Index is at 63.0, its...
Thu, May 7 2020, 9:08 AM
Plenty of people are clamoring to be released from captivity , and changes in staying sequestered or opening up has become political. The lending clim...
Thu, May 7 2020, 8:55 AM
Despite an improvement in COVID numbers, relative optimism in stocks, an ongoing glut of corporate bond issuance, and freshly reinforced realizations ...
Wed, May 6 2020, 5:52 PM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has extended several of the " flexibilities " it announced in March to assist mortgage originators in proces...
Wed, May 6 2020, 5:20 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly higher this week, but not enough to worry about too terribly much. Most lenders are still in the mid-to-low 3% range and...
Wed, May 6 2020, 10:44 AM
When someone asks a salty old bond market person why rates are doing what they'd doing, they might get a seemingly dismissive reply: "supply and deman...
Wed, May 6 2020, 9:03 AM
May 6th, of course, is the anniversary of the first tequila hangover. Alcohol consumption has increased as people continue to adapt to the working fro...
Wed, May 6 2020, 8:16 AM
Applications for purchase mortgages increased for the third straight week, keeping overall activity during the week ended May 1 virtually unchanged fr...
Tue, May 5 2020, 12:05 PM
Two Urban Institute (UI) analysts have raised an alarm about changes to federal regulations that threaten to limit access to important data about the ...
Tue, May 5 2020, 9:38 AM
Despite being in a narrow range in the bigger picture, 10yr Treasury yields have generally been moving moderately higher since April 21st. MBS have m...
Tue, May 5 2020, 8:23 AM
CoreLogic's Home Price Index for March showed that the spring market started out strongly, with price appreciation from the previous month of 1.3 perc...
Mon, May 4 2020, 5:04 PM
Mortgage rates moved off their recent lows to start the new week, but only slightly. That keeps the average lender very close to the lowest rates in r...
Mon, May 4 2020, 4:27 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has confirmed the findings that Black Knight reported on Monday morning that, while the number of forbearances ...
Mon, May 4 2020, 10:48 AM
Construction spending posted a gain in April, rising 0.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.36 trillion from a revised estimate of $1....
Mon, May 4 2020, 10:28 AM
The Federal Reserve's capacity and willingness to engage in aggressive easing measures is often described as a "bazooka." This likens it to an imprec...
Mon, May 4 2020, 9:15 AM
May the 4th be with you as the use of the word “unprecedented” continues to be… unprecedented. While in captivity it is important to get out outside o...
Mon, May 4 2020, 9:08 AM
Black Knight's new Mortgage Monitor restates some of the statistics on COVID-19 related forbearance plans it released late last week - i.e. that the n...
Fri, May 1 2020, 12:36 PM
Given their respective sizes, the economic dislocation created by the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have hit Fannie Mae harder than its competitor GSE ...
Fri, May 1 2020, 11:07 AM
Homeownership continued to be a significant builder of household wealth in the first quarter of this year. ATTOM Data Solutions said home sellers nati...
Fri, May 1 2020, 10:46 AM
In the day ahead, bonds will digest manufacturing PMI data, both from IHS-Markit and ISM. While these PMIs are typically big market movers--potential...
Fri, May 1 2020, 10:01 AM
May Day! A third of the way through with 2020 already? Seven weeks ago it was, “Use us! We have the best rates and products!” Now it’s, “During these ...
Fri, May 1 2020, 9:47 AM
The number of COVID-19 related forbearance plans in effect with servicers continued to increase through the end of April according to a report release...
Thu, Apr 30 2020, 6:15 PM
Freddie Mac eked out a positive comprehensive income of $0.62 billion in the first quarter, $1.83 billion less than it posted in the fourth quarter of...
Thu, Apr 30 2020, 5:42 PM
Mortgage rates moved down again today, bringing the average lender to their best levels since the 2nd week of March. Some lenders are quoting their lo...
Thu, Apr 30 2020, 9:36 AM
As analysts pour through Freddie Mac’s earnings announcement this morning, when in captivity it is important to settle in quickly and efficiently . It...
Thu, Apr 30 2020, 8:47 AM
January, February, and especially March were wild months for bond market volatility. Coronavirus was increasingly responsible for that volatility dur...
